Kolkata woman’s biometrics used for forgery in Rajasthan

KOLKATA: If you are asked to provide your thumb impression to buy a mobile SIM card, be careful lest you fall victim to identity theft. In, perhaps, the first such case in Kolkata, a 58-year-old homemaker from Bhowanipore was shocked when she discovered that her biometric data had been misused to obtain a SIM card and commit crimes in Rajasthan.
The victim, mother of a college student from Chakraberia Road, lodged complaints with both Bhowanipore police and the cyber cell.She has now moved court, asking why the mobile service provider should not be held guilty for failing to protect her identity. A local court has now directed the Kolkata Police’s cyber cell to conduct a thorough probe, said her advocate Bivas Chatterjee.

“Frauds using data and forms provided by customers are common. But biometric data theft is a sign that the data can be used for many other illegal activities,” said Chatterjee. Police refused to share details of the case saying it was an extremely sensitive case.
The woman said that on January 2, officers from Civil Lines police station in Ajmer, Rajasthan, knocked on her door. An officer from Bhowanipore police station, who was with the team, informed her that a mobile phone had been used to carry out cheating and forgery and that the number was registered in her name. “On my repeated requests for further information, the Rajasthan cops showed me a copy of the forged prepaid customer application form. When they left, I lodged two complaints with the police the same day,” the woman stated in her application to the court.
The woman recalled that on February 22, 2019, she had gone to a store on Sarat Bose Road to apply for a new SIM card. “The agent there asked me to provide KYC documents. He also asked me to give my register my fingerprint on a biometric scanner for verification prior to activating the new SIM card.
“The agent — after taking a photocopy of my Aadhaar card — asked me to provide my fingerprints again, claiming that the first attempt was unsuccessful as the thumb impression was unclear. The gap between taking the first and last thumb expression was at least 10 minutes. Not suspecting anything, I agreed. I believe that is when the manipulation took place,” the woman stated in her petition. Investigators are likely to question the agent soon.
An officer said that her identity had been recorded twice on purpose. Her identity was compromised at the source, he said. A total of 164 cases of fraud have been reported since 2011 across India on identity thefts.